Specialties

Speech Science and Disorders

Speech development
- Dr. Benjamin Munson conducts research on speech development and the perception and communication of social and personal identities in the Studies in the Applied Sociolinguistics of Speech and Language (SASS) Lab.
Speech perception
- Dr. Yang Zhang has multiple research focuses at Zhang Lab, one of which is speech perception research.
- Dr. Winn’s research explores the ways that speech is processed by the auditory system, and the ways that we adapt to the voices of different people.
- Dr. Evelyn Davies-Venn's research in the Sensory Aids and Perception Lab seeks to find behavioral and physiological factors that are responsible for variance in treatment outcomes for individuals with hearing loss.
Stuttering
- Dr. Jayanthi Sasisekaran directs the Speech Fluency Lab where her speech-related research focuses on stuttering.

Child language
- Dr. Lizbeth Finestack directs the Child Language Intervention Lab where she focuses on child language research.
- Dr. Kerry Ebert conducts research on developmental language disorders in bilingual and monolingual children.
Language acquisition
- Dr. Yang Zhang leads language acquisition research at Zhang Lab.
Phonological Disorders
- Dr. Benjamin Munson studies phonological disorders in the Studies in the Applied Sociolinguistics of Speech and Language (SASS) Lab.
Phonological encoding and monitoring
- In addition to stuttering, Dr. Jayanthi Sasisekaran studies phonological encoding and monitoring in fluent and disfluent speakers, as well as dual-task processing, at the Speech Fluency Lab.

Pediatric Deglutition Disorders
- Dr. Katlyn McGrattan's line of work is focused on the identification of the mechanisms underlying dysphagia among infants born prematurity, those with congenital heart defects, and those with and spinal muscular atrophy in the Consortium for Pediatric Aerodigestive Advancement (CPAA).
Normal Feeding Development
- Within the Consortium for Pediatric Aerodigestive Advancement (CPAA) Dr. Katlyn McGrattan investigates the normal correlates of sucking and swallowing physiology and function among healthy non-dysphagic infants.
Digital Aerodigestive Assessment
- Dr. Katlyn McGrattan has partnered with experts in medical device development, engineering, computer programming, and business administration to develop objective methods of feeding assessment that improve the validity of dysphagia diagnostics and corresponding treatment in the Consortium for Pediatric Aerodigestive Advancement (CPAA).

Cochlear implants and listening effort
- Dr. Winn’s research is focused on understanding the things that make speech communication difficult for people who use cochlear implants.
Cochlear implants and hearing aids
- Dr. Yang Zhang studies cochlear implants and hearing aids at Zhang Lab.
Hearing loss
- As part of the Center for Applied & Translational Sensory Science (CATSS), Dr. Peggy Nelson seeks to understand the experience of listeners with hearing loss in realistic environments and with sensory aids.
Psychoacoustics and Audiology Diagnosis
- Dr. Bert Schlauch's research is to improve the precision of audiologic diagnostic tests and to understand the perceptual consequences of hearing loss. Learn more at the Schlauch Hearing Research Lab.

Brain imaging and autism research
- On top of his research in speech, language, and hearing disorders, Dr. Yang Zhang does brain imaging and autism research at Zhang Lab.
Sociolinguistic variation
- Along with other Studies in the Applied Sociolinguistics of Speech and Language (SASS) Lab research projects, Dr. Benjamin Munson studies the acquisition and processing of socially meaningful linguistic variation with a focus on variation used to convey and perceive gender and sexuality.
Temporal Dynamics of Language Planning
- Temporal dynamics of language planning In addition to her interest in stuttering, Dr. Jayanthi Sasisekaran's recent work involves the use of electrophysiological measures in assessing the temporal dynamics and cognitive effort associated with language planning.